MALAPPURAM: In one of the most startling upsets in Kerala’s electoral history, Kuttippuram witnessed a political metaphor turn into reality in 2006. The “bed bug” went on to silence the “cannon”.
A young and defiant K T Jaleel, once dismissed in a biting remark by IUML state general secretary P K Kunhalikutty, rose to dismantle the aura of invincibility surrounding his former mentor in the assembly election that year.
Jaleel, a former Youth League leader who had walked out of the IUML after a bitter fallout, returned as an LDF-backed independent. Even before announcing his candidature, Kunhalikutty mocked Jaleel in various instances and told media, “Do you need a cannon to kill a bed bug?”
However, what followed was not merely a contest for votes but a high-voltage political duel shaped by personal rupture and ideological confrontation. Kunhalikutty, a towering figure in the IUML and the undisputed strongman of Kuttippuram since 1991, entered the fray armed with organisational muscle and legacy. But beneath that dominance, cracks had begun to show. The shadow of the Kozhikode ice cream parlour sex scandal loomed over his campaign. Though it had not led to a conviction at the time, the allegations had already dented his image.
For nearly five decades since the constituency’s formation, Kuttippuram, a Muslim-majority seat,had remained a fortress of the IUML. However, in 2006, voters appeared increasingly receptive to the Opposition’s sustained attack, which foregrounded allegations of corruption, unexplained wealth and controversial associations. Several factors converged to create the upset. Factionalism within the CPM was at its peak, yet it also produced a defining moment.
V S Achuthanandan recast the election as a moral battle, refusing to dilute the campaign despite internal pressures and an alleged understanding within sections of the party to go soft on the ice cream parlour issue.
Defying party curbs, he stepped into Kuttippuram and addressed a massive public meeting, triggering a visible shift in the political mood.
Jaleel seized that moment with precision. Projecting himself as a wronged insider and a credible alternative, he tapped into dissent within the IUML and the wider anti-incumbency sentiment.
The tremors were not confined to Kuttippuram. In Malappuram, the IUML’s traditional stronghold, the party’s dominance visibly weakened. Accustomed to sweeping at least 10 of the 12 constituencies in the district, the League saw its tally shrink to just five. The LDF won an equal number of seats, with an unusual consolidation of support. Several Muslim organisations, including the PDP, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Sunni faction led by Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar, openly backed LDF candidates.
When the votes were counted, the verdict was emphatic. Jaleel secured 64,207 votes against Kunhalikutty’s 55,426, winning by a margin of 8,781 votes.